Kat Tanita shares her experience of going from influencer to cookbook author

Influencer Kat Tanita has already conquered the lifestyle and fashion space with her blog and brand With Love From Kat. Now, she’s taking on food. Kat is currently working on her cookbook, which will feature sugar-, dairy- and gluten-free recipes for girls on the go. We got the inside look at her journey into the food space and what you can expect from her next.

Image credit: Kat Tanita/Instagram

Tell us about your cookbook and what inspired you to create it.

I was struggling with digestion issues and stomach pain for years. I went from doctor to doctor and no one seemed to know what was wrong with me. They put me on a variety of powders, supplements and pills that made me even more sick!

I decided to take matters into my own hands and started cooking more at home, eating organic food and realized that gluten- and dairy- and refined sugar-free food made me look and feel amazing! I couldn’t believe what a difference eating healthy had on my life. Since I was cooking at home more, I needed recipes that were healthy but so many of them either didn’t turn out right (clearly the person hadn’t recipe-tested) or tasted too healthy/bland/like cardboard! I again took matters into my own hands and decided to partner with an incredible chef and we created 100 sugar-, dairy- and gluten-free delicious recipes that are quick and easy to make for a girl on the go like me.

I love that I can share my recipes and tips on how I feel my best with the world. Food is truly medicine and healed me.

What has been your favorite part of the writing process?

Everything from the initial research, to the creative process of narrowing down concepts and ideas, polling my readers to see what they wanted and just writing from the heart about my own experience, which I am so passionate about!

What is the biggest challenge of writing a cookbook?

Recipe testing! We tested over a thousand recipes and had so many failures in my kitchen! It took months and months of edits and revisions to perfect it.

Tell us the story of your biggest recipe fail.

When the chef who was the recipe developer for the book and I were testing desserts we tried to make these seemingly simple vanilla coconut cupcakes about 20 times and they all turned out awful. We used so much flour, eggs and ingredients and felt tired and frustrated for wasting it all and for none of them even coming close to what we wanted. We decided to give it a rest and came back to try it again a week later (which happened to be one day before the actual cookbook shoot). We somehow got it on the third try that morning and I am now so in love with the recipe!

What’s the best advice you have for aspiring bloggers and influencers?

Don’t try to be something you’re not. Find your voice and your niche, be confident in yourself and share your knowledge and passion with the world. And don’t expect to make money from blogging right away — it took me two years to be able to support myself on blogging income alone, and I had several other full-time jobs and side hustles in the meantime.

What is a challenge you have as an influencer that would surprise people?

Wearing so many different hats and having to switch gears throughout the day constantly. I am an accountant, a stylist, a graphic designer, a web developer, a model, a photographer, a social media consultant, an editor, a writer, a creative director all in a day. I have had to learn how to run a business from the ground up — the ins and outs — and am a one-woman show! No task is too big or too small — and if I don’t know the answer to something I have to figure it out — and fast. The fashion industry moves very fast so I am always on my toes!

Anything you want to add about what you have coming up?

I’m so excited to be taking my lifestyle website to the next level with my book and really stepping into the wellness world. I feel so passionate about what I do and am happy that I could heal my stomach and digestive ailments with food and that I now get to share it with thousands of women around the world — who have already told me that my advice and recipes make them feel amazing too!